Sailing Towards South Georgia

 This was conducted on our deck - 2.

 John's clothes get checked.

 Brian vacuums a coat.

 Boots are rinsed in disinfectant.

 And then you sign your name to end the process.

The document we all had to sign, stating that we were 'clean'.

Wednesday, October 30^th.

Last night we set the clocks ahead an hour as we have sailed eastward into another time zone. Today was another beautiful calm, clear morning with balmy temperatures.

First item on the agenda was a compulsory tourism information documentary produced for the South Georgia government. The film informed us all about the island’s natural and human history and how the latter as affected the former. Humans have either accidentally or on purpose brought invasive plants and animals to this fragile ecosystem. The worst of these was the introduction of rats and mice which ate the eggs and chicks of the ground nesting birds. The Antarctic environment is inhospitable, unpredictable and potentially dangerous. We were told that male fur seals and elephant seals are incredibly dangerous and to stay well clear. This film was Followed by a biosecurity briefing about our landings on the island. This is a process of checking the ship (with a rat sniffing dog) and our boots and clothes so that we do not bring any seeds or soil to the island. Every time we leave the ship we have to step into a disinfectant solution. We also learned about the IAATO, which stands for the: International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators. This is a self-regulating industry that is governed by this Association. Susan is a member of the board.

Antarctica has been governed internationally since 1959. In 1991 IAATO was adopted to promote safe and environmentally sustainable tourism. Biosecurity is critical: no organic material or seeds are to be brought or taken.

Then we were all called down by room to have all of the outwear we intend to wear on the island checked for any seeds, germs, soil or anything that could threaten the islands environment or species.

This was followed by lunch.

Next up was part two of Marcelo’s lecture on penguins in which I learned:

King penguins don’t make nests. They lay one egg which the male incubates for 54 days

Chick rearing takes over 300 days. The chicks gather in groups which is referred to as ‘creche’ behaviour. I have always been led to believe that males and females mated for life, but apparently not, the ‘divorce’ rate is very high, up to 73% because they can’t find last year’s partner in the big noisy colonies. The chicks are left on their own all winter and fast all that time. The King and Emperor penguins (which we will not see as they are elsewhere in Antarctica) look very similar, but the Emperor is a little larger and has an open ‘collar’ while the King has tight a ‘collar’.

They stay near fresh water stream for water but also to help them self-regulate. Their lifespan is unknown as no one has yet studied them for that long.

Emperor Penguins are the largest and were featured in the March of the Penguins. They are only found in Antarctica, where there are thought to be 238000 pairs. Here the divorce rate 85%. They lay one egg, and chick rearing takes 150 days. There are 10% more females, so females fight for the males. Males do all the incubation and lose up to 45% of mass and again their lifespan is unknown.

Magellanic Penguins are similar to African, Humbolt and Galapagos penguins. They lay 2 eggs and they have a high-fidelity rate of 90%.

Threats to penguin’s conservation:

Over exploitation of marine species

Interaction with fisheries

Pollution and oil spills

Industrial development

Invasive alien species – in particular rats

Unregulated tourism

Hunting and guano collection, some places kill and eat penguins other places use penguins and dolphins are bait for crab nets

Climate change

Next up after a short break was lecture by Keith on the topic:

‘Glaciers, Ice Caps, Sea Ice and most things that have to do with ice…’

(As usual he poked fun at the mammal and bird presenters, saying that ice and rock are more interesting).

Why are glaciers and global ice important?

Ice allows us to understand our planet and its climate over time. The hydrological cycle is a closed loop, the amount of water never changes. It doesn’t change mass, just energy by adding or subtracting heat. Glaciers are a wonderful archive of our global history. Glaciers are impacted snow, compressed by the weight above and are gradually pulled down by gravity, hence they ‘flow’. Sea ice is water that freezes. Ice ages were a positive feedback loop, more and more water deposited on the land, reflect more heat and make it colder so more and more snow falls and builds and the glaciers grow.

Ice Volumes:

97% of water in the oceans

3% is fresh water, 97% is in ice or glaciers

If Antarctica melts: Sea Level Rise: 58.3 m

If Greenland sheet melts: Sea Level Rise: 7.36 m

Glacier and Ice Caps melt: Sea Level Rise: 0.41 m

If the Sea Ice all melts: Sea Level Rise: 0.0 m because it already displaces its weight

We will visit the West Antarctica shelf. And most importantly, the polar ice drives the complexity of our global temperatures and thereby pressure and then winds. In short it drives our climate worldwide.

There was a short concert of original music in the lounge by Blaize followed by the recap and the briefing for tomorrow, which promises to be a very interesting and exciting day.

For dinner I had an ostrich steak while sitting beside and talking to a high court judge from Johannesburg. He and his wife would like to leave South Africa but because of his privileged position and connection to the country they cannot. I talked to him about the attempted robberies of tourist transport leaving the airport or hotels and he confirmed that is a regular occurrence.

After dinner we listened to a lecture from Scobie about his 40 years of working in South Georgia. He started at 20 in 1971 and overwintered for 4 years in the seventies. He related many entertaining stories about his experiences, including meeting Lord Shackelton who had come to visit his father’s grave when he was 60. Scobie’s job was to make sure the graveyard was well kept and presentable for the visit. Unfortunately, elephant seals trashed it the night before. When Scobie saw the damage he quickly set about mending the fence and then thought he needed to paint it white to match the rest. As he was painting it someone tapped him on the shoulder and said ‘you’re working hard’. He turned and there was Lord Shackelton talking to him!

We all turned in early as we are getting ready and excited for tomorrow!